Hi, you may be wondering, what is a preferred pharmacies? Preferred pharmacies are pharmacies selected by insurance companies or pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as prescription drug preferred providers. Preferred pharmacies agree to provide medications at a lower cost to the insurance companies or PBMs. In return, preferred pharmacies may receive a higher volume of business from the insurance companies or PBMs' customers.

Preferred pharmacies are found in a variety of settings like chain pharmacies, independent pharmacies, and supermarkets. Some insurance plans and PBMs have limited networks of preferred pharmacies and others have a larger networks with a wide range of pharmacy options.

Individuals with insurance plans including a preferred pharmacy network, may pay a lower copayment for their medications at a preferred pharmacy compared a non-preferred pharmacy. For some, the difference in copayments are significant and individuals pay a higher copayment for medications from a non-preferred pharmacy. Importantly, people should check with their insurance plans or PBMs to determine if their plan has a preferred pharmacy network and to understand the costs for using a preferred pharmacy versus a non-preferred pharmacy.

So, preferred pharmacies are pharmacies are selected by an insurance companies or pharmacy benefit managers as a preferred providers of prescription drugs. Preferred pharmacies agree to provide lower cost medications to the insurance companies or PBMs. In return, preferred pharmacies may receive a higher volume of business from insurance companies or PBMs customers. People with insurance plans with a preferred pharmacy network may pay a lower copayment for medications at a preferred pharmacy compared to a non-preferred pharmacy. Importantly, people should check with their insurance plans or PBMs to determine if their plan includes a preferred pharmacy network and understand the costs associated with using a preferred pharmacy versus a non-preferred pharmacy.